More than 100,000 visitors experience Saigontourist culinary festival in Japan

Saigontourist Group Food Festival in Osaka attracted 100,000 visitors in two days with 50 delicious dishes, folk games, traditional craft villages, promoting Vietnamese culture, heritage, and tourism.

The Saigontourist Group - Vietnam Food Culture Festival 2025 took place on June 14-15 at Tsurumi Ryokuchi Park (Osaka, Japan), attracting more than 100,000 international visitors, overseas Vietnamese and locals from the Kansai region and neighboring localities. This is the first time the organizer has brought the festival outside of Vietnam. The event brought more than 50 delicious Vietnamese dishes along with many booths of folk games and traditional craft villages.

Mr. Ngo Trinh Ha, Consul General of Vietnam in Osaka, assessed that the festival was professionally organized by Saigontourist Group, contributing to promoting the country and people of Vietnam to international friends. In the photo, Mr. Ha (second from the left) and delegates and representatives of the two countries enjoyed vermicelli soup with crab, shrimp paste and other delicious dishes from three regions.

Participating in the festival are 15 restaurant, hotel, and travel brands of Saigontourist Group such as Rex, Grand, Majestic, Saigon - Da Lat hotels, Hoa Viet Joint Venture Company, Binh Quoi Tourist Village, Saigontourist School of Tourism and Hospitality (STHC), Saigon Exhibition and Fair Company (SECC)... In the photo are grilled meat sandwiches and Saigon meatloaf sandwiches of the Continental Saigon Hotel.

According to Mr. Pham Huy Binh - Chairman of Saigontourist Group, Head of the festival's steering committee, the enthusiastic response of local people and international visitors shows the influence of these culinary cultural events. In just two days, the number of visitors exceeded 100,000 - a great success for the unit in the first organization.

"This is a testament to the interest and love that visitors have for Vietnamese culture and cuisine. This is also a source of motivation for Saigontourist Group to continue bringing these cultural values ​​to the world ," Mr. Pham Huy Binh emphasized.

More than 50 delicious dishes from the North, Central and South are prepared by professional chefs directly on site using both local ingredients and ingredients transported from Vietnam. The choices range from rustic street food to regional specialties. According to the organizers, each coupon for services at the food stalls is priced at 700 Yen (equivalent to 110,000 VND), allowing visitors to freely explore and enjoy their favorite dishes. In the photo, the chef of the Grand Saigon Hotel grills chicken skewers with lemongrass leaves.

In the photo is a Western-style pancake, served with raw vegetables and sweet and sour chili fish sauce. The chef spreads a ladle of thin pancake batter onto a deep pan. Waiting for the edges of the pancake to turn golden brown, they start adding the filling including bean sprouts, pork, shrimp, and then flip the pancake into a crescent shape. The finished product is a crispy, golden brown pancake. This is one of the dishes that attracts a lot of visitors because of the "even as the full moon" pancake-making performance of Vietnamese chefs.

The organizers said that because this is the first Saigontourist Group cultural and culinary festival held abroad, the unit wants to recreate the traditional and contemporary beauty of Vietnam in the most authentic and vivid way. The company hopes that the special dishes, art performances, folk games and meaningful cultural exchange activities can help overseas Vietnamese feel less homesick. In the photo, visitors take photos at the booth of folding leaves to create shapes, a traditional children's toy in the past.

In addition to food stalls, the festival also has cultural programs, exchanges, and dissemination of traditional culture and Vietnamese heritage, meeting the entertainment needs of visitors. Many young visitors enjoyed the performances of the lion and dragon dance team and the Earth God. Hanh Nguyen (35 years old, Osaka) said that this was the first time her daughter had seen a live lion dance because she was born in Japan and had not had the opportunity to see these performances.

"I like to take my children to Vietnamese cultural and culinary events so they can understand more about their mother's homeland. The festival has created conditions for my children and many other overseas Vietnamese to enjoy delicious hometown dishes, a very valuable experience in a foreign land," she said.

Previously, on the evening of June 14, the opening ceremony of the festival took place with the participation of many Japanese and Vietnamese guests and representatives of the organizing committee, Saigontourist Group. Coordinating and co-organizing units include the Department of International Cooperation - Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam, the Embassy of Vietnam in Japan, the Consulate General of Vietnam in Osaka, Vietnam Airlines... According to the representative of the organizing committee, this multilateral cooperation helps create a solid foundation for the success of the festival in its first organization.

Also within the framework of the festival, Saigontourist Group organized a Business Connection Conference and a signing ceremony for cooperation in developing Vietnam - Japan tourism with the participation of leading travel and airline companies in Osaka, neighboring regions and media agencies.

The Saigontourist Group - Vietnam Culinary Culture Festival 2025 in Osaka, an annual event in Vietnam, is being held abroad for the first time. The program has won the "Best Culinary Festival in Asia" award for three consecutive years (2022-2024) and "Best Culinary Festival in the World" award for two consecutive years (2023-2024) at the World Culinary Awards. The representative of the organizing committee said that bringing the festival to the international market is a strategic step, contributing to affirming the position and influence of Vietnamese culinary culture.

HA (according to VnE)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/hon-100-000-luot-khach-trai-nghiem-le-hoi-am-thuc-saigontourist-tai-nhat-ban-414732.html